AIBRIEF
Democrats said the measure would not curb datacenter power demand. The 57 43 tally fell three votes short of the 60 needed, weeks before midterms put both parties' cost theories on the ballot.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a bipartisan bill designed to keep the cost of new datacenters off household electricity bills. The Ratepayer Protection Act failed 57 to 43, three votes short of the 60 needed to advance.
The bill would have required utilities to consider adopting standards that allocate transmission, generation, and distribution upgrade costs to large new power users: the wires, plants, and local grid expansions triggered when datacenters move in, rather than spreading those costs across residential ratepayers. The House had passed the measure earlier this year by an almost unanimous vote, and Senate sponsors included Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, with Rep. Gabe Evans of Colorado leading the House effort.
Democratic leaders argued the bill would not actually curb datacenter electricity consumption, framing the vote as a substantive policy choice rather than a contradiction with their own cost-of-living message. Republicans cast the same vote as Democrats blocking consumer relief, putting the two parties' theories of cost relief on the record weeks before the November midterms.
The underlying bill is H.R. 9340, and the Congressional Budget Office has published a cost estimate.